A new book adds to the clamour that traditional approaches to persuasion just don't work any more. As marketers, we need to realize that we never really own our brands, the consumer does. New media are just giving consumers more voice and more choice. The days of "telling them" are over! The days of working with them are just beginning.
A Book Review of Alex Wipperfurth's "Brand Hijack" From Booklist
In an age of marketing saturation, consumers are pleading with advertisers to "tone down the relentless yammering; you're talking too loud for us to listen." As backlash to constant media hype, products sometimes become "hot" when consumers ignore corporate America's overt advances and embrace independent products such as Doc Martens, Red Bull, Napster, and Starbucks, creating a cult following and effectively hijacking the brand as their own. Even Pabst Blue Ribbon beer has made a comeback recently precisely because it is the antithesis of a microbrew. So how do you market to an audience that rejects marketing? Wipperfurth explains how to walk this thin line by "seeding" the right audience to create a buzz and patient development of brand recognition. Of course, there is no guarantee that any of this will work, but Wipperfurth has the expertise to give you an advantage over the big guys. He has been called "a marketing subversive . . . The guy who will make your brands cool" by Adweek and is a partner at marketing boutique Plan B in San Francisco. David Siegfried
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Here are some tips for "getting hijacked"
- Let go of the fallacy that your brand belongs to you. It belongs to the market.
- Co-create your brand by collaborating with your consumers.
- Facilitate your most influential and passionate consumers in translating your brand's message to a broader audience.
- Lose control. Free yourself to seize sudden opportunities that only last for moments.
- Resist the paranoid urge for consistency. Embrace the value of being surprising and imperfect.
- Respect your community. Draw the line between promotion and the adbusting trinity of manipulation, intrusion and co-option